Top 10 World Series Appearances By Franchise

The numbers in parenthesis are the number of appearances, their win-loss record, their winning percentage & the last time they won a World Series Title.

Note: All of the comments come from Wikipedia.

10 – Atlanta Braves (9, 3-6, .333, 1995)

1–1 as Boston Braves (1912-1952); 1–1 as Milwaukee Braves (1953-1965). Prior to 1912, the Boston team had several unofficial nicknames: “Red Stockings” and “Red Caps” in the 1870s and 1880s; “Beaneaters” in the 1890s and early 1900s; “Doves” (when the Dovey family owned the franchise, 1907-1910) and “Rustlers” (when William Russell owned the franchise, 1911). Following the 1935 season, after enduring bankruptcy and a series of poor seasons, new owner Bob Quinn asked a team of sportswriters to choose a new nickname, to change the team’s luck. The sportswriters chose “Bees”, which was adopted in 1936, though it never really caught on, with Quinn even refusing to use it, although their home uniforms in this interval were changed to feature a large block letter B (”bee”). The team dropped the nickname in 1941, using only the official name “Braves” from 1941 on.

9 – Cincinnati Reds (9, 5-4, .556, 1990)

Last National League team to win consecutive World Series (1975-76). The Reds have enjoyed sporadic success over their 125-plus years. They won the AA’s inaugural season in 1882, and did not win another championship until the Black Sox scandal ridden World Series of 1919. After struggling throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the Reds made it back to the World Series in 1939, and won it in 1940. They returned to the bottom half of the standings from 1941-1960, except for a third-place finish in 1956, until winning the National League pennant in 1961. After losing to the Yankees in the 1961 World Series, the Reds were unable to piece together any consistent pennant contending teams until the “Big Red Machine” teams of the 1970s. They won 6 National League West Division titles and four National League pennants from 1970-1979, including consecutive World Series titles in 1975 and 1976. Their most recent World Series championship was in 1990, and most recent playoff appearance was in 1995.

8 – Chicago Cubs (10, 2-8, .200, 1908)

The Chicago Cubs hold the record for the longest World Series drought (still active through 2009), with their last title coming in 1908 (101 years). In fact, they also hold the longest drought without a World Series appearance, not having won the NL pennant since 1945. Even had they won the 1945 World Series, they would still hold the longest active World Series championship drought, the second longest being since 1948 by the Cleveland Indians.

7 – Detroit Tigers (10, 4-6, .400, 1984)

First American League team to appear in three consecutive World Series (1907-09). With the end of World War II and the timely return of Hank Greenberg and others from the military, the Tigers took the 1945 American League pennant. With Virgil Trucks, Hal Newhouser and Dizzy Trout on the mound and Greenberg leading the Tiger bats, Detroit responded in a Game 7 for the first time, staking Newhouser to a 5–0 lead before he threw a pitch en route to a 9–3 victory over the Cubs. Because many baseball stars had not yet returned from the military, some baseball scholars have deemed the ‘45 Series to be among the worst-played contests in Series history. For example, prior to the Series, Chicago sportswriter Warren Brown was asked who he liked, and he answered, “I don’t think either one of them can win it!” (The Chicago Cubs, by Warren Brown, 1946) But the Cubs had no answer to Greenberg, and the Series went Detroit’s way.

6 – Boston Red Sox (11, 7-4, .636, 2007)

Won the first World Series in 1903. Ended 86-year title drought with World Series win in 2004. The club was founded in 1901, as one of the American League’s eight charter franchises. They were a dominant team in the new league—defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first World Series in 1903. They won four more championships by 1918, and then went into one of the longest championship droughts in baseball history, which ended in 2004, when the team won their sixth World Series Championship. Since 2003, the Red Sox have competed in four ALCS, have won two World Series, and have emerged as arguably the most successful MLB team of the last decade.

5 – Oakland Athletics aka A’s (14, 9-5, .642, 1989)

5–3 as Philadelphia Athletics. After a decade-plus of interleague play, the A’s hold a 38-30 edge against the Giants head-to-head through June 29, 2008[4] — including a 16-8 record against the Giants during the 2005-08 seasons[5]. In addition, the A’s have played in six World Series (winning four of them) since moving to Oakland in 1968, while the Giants have only been to three World Series (losing all three) since moving to San Francisco in 1958. When factoring in the World Series matchups between the two franchises (dating back to 1905), the A’s hold the all-time edge over the Giants in head-to-head play, winning 51 games and losing 37 times—the Giants won the 1905 World Series four games to one, while the A’s won the 1911 World Series (4-2), the 1913 World Series (4-1) and the 1989 World Series (4-0).

4 – San Francisco Giants (17, 5-12, .294, 1954)

5–9 as New York Giants. The New York Giants’ four World Series appearances from 1921 to 1924 are the most consecutive appearances for any National League franchise. In game one of the 1954 World Series at the Polo Grounds, Willie Mays made “The Catch”—a dramatic over-the-shoulder catch off a fly ball by Vic Wertz to deep center field. At the time the game had been tied 2–2 in the eighth inning. With men on first and second and nobody out, an extra-base hit could have blown the game wide open, and given the Cleveland Indians the momentum to win not only Game One, but perhaps the World Series itself. Instead, Mays caught the ball 450 feet from the plate, whirled and threw the ball to the infield, keeping the lead runner, Larry Doby, from scoring.

The underdog Giants went on to sweep the series in four straight, despite the Cleveland Indians having won a then-American League record 111 games that year. This was the last World Series victory for the Giants, subsequently losing in 1962, 1989, and 2002. It would be their last appearance as the New York Giants, as the team moved to San Francisco prior to 1958 season.

3 – St. Louis Cardinals (17, 10-7, .588, 2006)

Comments: Most World Series titles in the National League, second in Major League Baseball behind the New York Yankees, but trail them by more than double their win total. The Cardinals were founded in 1882 as a member of the American Association called the St. Louis Brown Stockings. The club quickly achieved success, winning four AA pennants in a row, 1885-1888. Following these titles, St. Louis played in an early version of the World Series, the first two times against the National League’s Chicago White Stockings, now named the Chicago Cubs. The 1885 series ended in dispute, but St. Louis won the 1886 series outright, beginning a St. Louis-Chicago rivalry that continues today.[3] The American Association went bankrupt in 1892, and the Browns moved to the National League, leaving much of their success behind for the next three decades. The club changed its name to the “Perfectos” in 1899, before adopting the “Cardinals” name in 1900.

2 – Los Angeles Dodgers (18, 6-12, .333, 1988)

Most National League pennants. 1–8 as Brooklyn Dodgers. The 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers are the last team to win a World Series after losing the first two games on the road. The recent tendency of a team winning the first two games at home and then winning the Series suggests the theoretical advantage to gaining home-field advantage (and the first two games at home) by winning the All-Star Game.

1 – New York Yankees (40, 27-13, .675, 2009)

Most titles of any major-sports franchises in North America. Most World Series losses. They do not hold the best winning percentage of teams with at least 3 World Series appearances. The Yankees’ number of World Series losses, 13, leads in Major League Baseball. The Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers are second in total World Series appearances with eighteen; eleven of those eighteen appearances have been against the Yankees, where the Dodgers have gone 3-8 against them.[33] Among North American major sports, the Yankees’ success is only approached by the 24 Stanley Cup championships of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League. They have played in the World Series against every National League pennant winner except the Houston Astros and the Colorado Rockies, a feat that no other team is even close to matching.

Honorable Mention: Pittsburgh Pirates (7, 5-2, .714, 1979)

They have the best winning percentage of teams with at least 3 World Series appearances. The Pittsburgh Pirates have won all five of their World Series championships in seven games.



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